HISTORY

OF THE

NEGRO RACE IN AMERICA

FROM 1619 TO 1880.

NEGROES AS SLAVES, AS SOLDIERS, AND AS CITIZENS;

TOGETHER WITH

A PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATION OF THE UNITY OF THE HUMAN
FAMILY, AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF AFRICA, AND AN
ACCOUNT OF THE NEGRO GOVERNMENTS OF
SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA.

BY

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS,

FIRST COLORED MEMBER OF THE OHIO LEGISLATURE, AND LATE JUDGE ADVOCATE OF
THE GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC OF OHIO, ETC.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOLUME I.

1619 TO 1800.

NEW YORK:

G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS,

27 AND 29 WEST 23D STREET.

1883.

TO THE

REV. JUSTIN DEWEY FULTON, D.D.,

OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK;

AND TO THE

HON. CHARLES FOSTER,

GOVERNOR OF OHIO;

WHO, AS CLERGYMAN AND STATESMAN, REPRESENT THE PUREST PRINCIPLES OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH AND STATE.

To the Illustrious Representative of the Church of Christ:

WHO, FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, HAS STOOD THE INTREPID CHAMPION OF DIVINE TRUTH,
AND THE DEFENDER OF HUMANITY: DURING THE DARK DAYS OF SLAVERY, PLEADING
THE CAUSE OF THE BONDMEN OF THE LAND; DURING THE WAR, URGING
THE EQUALITY OF NEGROES AS SOLDIERS, DURING RECONSTRUCTION,
ENCOURAGING THE FREEDMEN TO NOBLE LIVES THROUGH THE
AGENCY OF THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL, AND EVERMORE
THE ENEMY OF ANY DISTINCTION BASED UPON
RACE, COLOR, OR PREVIOUS CONDITION
OF SERVITUDE.

To the Distinguished Statesman:

WHO, ENDUED WITH THE GENIUS OF COMMON SENSE, TOO EXALTED TO BE INFLAMED BY
TEMPORARY PARTY OR FACTIONAL STRIFE, AND WHO, AS CONGRESSMAN AND GOVERNOR,
IN STATE AND NATIONAL POLITICS, HAS PROVEN HIMSELF CAPABLE OF

SACRIFICING PERSONAL INTEREST TO PUBLIC WELFARE;

WHO, IN DEALING WITH THE NEGRO PROBLEM, HAS ASSERTED A NEW DOCTRINE IN
IGNORING THE CLAIMS OF RACES: AND WHO, AS THE FIRST NORTHERN GOVERNOR
TO APPOINT A COLORED MAN TO A POSITION OF PUBLIC TRUST,
HAS THEREBY DECLARED THAT NEITHER NATIONALITY NOR
COMPLEXION SHOULD ENHANCE OR IMPAIR THE CLAIMS
OF MEN TO POSITIONS WITHIN THE GIFT OF
THE EXECUTIVE.

TO THESE NOBLE MEN THIS WORK IS DEDICATED,

WITH SENTIMENTS OF HIGH ESTEEM AND PERSONAL REGARD, BY THEIR
FRIEND AND HUMBLE SERVANT,

THE AUTHOR.

[pg v]

PREFACE.

I was requested to deliver an oration on the Fourth of July, 1876, at Avondale, O. It being the one-hundredth birthday of the American Republic, I determined to prepare an oration on the American Negro. I at once began an investigation of the records of the nation to secure material for the oration. I was surprised and delighted to find that the historical memorials of the Negro were so abundant, and so creditable to him. I pronounced my oration on the Fourth of July, 1876; and the warm and generous manner in which it was received, both by those who listened to it and by others who subsequently read it in pamphlet form, encouraged me to devote what leisure time I might have to a further study of the subject.

I found that the library of the Historical and Philosophical Society of Ohio, and the great America